Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase

One golden family. One fateful summer. Four lives changed forever.

Amber Alton knows that the hours pass differently at Black Rabbit Hall, her London family's country estate where no two clocks read the same. Summers there are perfect, timeless. Not much ever happens. Until, one stormy evening in 1968, it does. 

The idyllic world of the four Alton children is shattered. Fiercely bonded by the tragic events, they grow up fast. But when a glamorous stranger arrives, these loyalties are tested. Forbidden passions simmer. And another catastrophe looms... 

Decades later, Lorna and her fiancé wind their way through the countryside searching for a wedding venue. Lorna is drawn to a beautiful crumbling old house she hazily remembers from her childhood, feels a bond she does not understand. When she finds a disturbing message carved into an old oak tree by one of the Alton children, she begins to realise that Black Rabbit Hall's secret history is as dark and tangled as its woods, and that, much like her own past, it must be brought into the light.

Black Rabbit Hall was highly recommended to me by a friend to help me out of my reading slump and I am so thankful for the recommendation as this beautifully crafted gem had me enchanted by this storyline from start to finish and I didn’t realise when I started reading this book that is was in fact author Eve Chase’s debut which I was astonished to hear, after reading Black Rabbit Hall I am quite exciting to see what is to come from this author as she sure looks like she will be an author to watch.

The book has such a charming and delicate looking cover and is going to stand out on the shelves, this has to be one of favourite covers and it holds such a beautiful story inside so this is definitely one that will be staying on my shelf.

The book alternates between Amber’s story set in the 1960’s as a young girl living with her family at Black Rabbit Hall, to thirty years later with Lorna who is looking for a Wedding Venue and she has her heart set on Black Rabbit Hall. It is rare for me when reading dual timescale books to not favour one time frame more than the other but this book had the perfect balance between them both and I was hooked on both time frames and the way the author managed to weave both storylines together was just effortless.

The setting of Black Rabbit Hall was brought to life through the authors remarkable descriptive writing style. Each of the characters were so well drawn which makes it so hard to leave them behind now that I have finished the book. The storyline covers so much from devastating tragic events, family secrets and betrayal. I found the book very mysterious and addictive with little twists and turns that had me enthralled helped by the gentle pace of the book.

This was an amazing debut that was difficult to put down and deserves much praise.

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